Theatre Today

“Promises have to be implemented in greater interest”

--Samina Luthfa Nitra, actress-playwright, BotTala


Nitra performs in BotTala's “Khona”.

With new blood and newer ideas, the scenario in the theatre world is very promising, finds Samina Luthfa Nitra, talented actor and emerging playwright in the Dhaka theatre scene. She thinks such promises have to be implemented in greater interest. “Promises will always be there, but how we act will determine whether the theatre of Bangladesh can transcend the next hurdle. To me the hurdle is connecting to the changing audiences. We have not reached the biggest audience. Our theatre is stuck in the air-conditioned remits of the National Theatre Hall,” said Nitra.
Nitra is one of the founding members of BotTala, which was formed in 2008. Before that she worked for Subachan for nearly a decade. At present, she lives in Oxford, doing her DPhil (PhD) in Sociology at University of Oxford. In the UK she is involved with a troupe named Theatre Folks.
Through an e-mail interview, she took time off to send in her responses to The Daily Star.
Nitra performed both in BotTala's plays “Dhamail” and “Khona”. Her Subachan performances include “Rashtro Bonam”, “Khandani Kissa”, “Rupaboti” and another version of “Khona”. She wrote two plays: “Teerthankar” and “Khona”, while she jointly translated “Twelfth Night”. The actress performed in and choreographed Theatre Folks' debut play “Tale of Two Friends”. She will now choreograph the troupe's next play “Jamuna”.
Like any other regular entrant in Bangladesh, Nitra began her journey, through a workshop by Subachan Nattya Sangsad in 1996. Initially she had to get permission from her parents for the workshop. In the present context, her parents are simultaneously proud as well as little bit annoyed with her continuous journey in the 'dangerous' mode of art.
As a first-hand spectator or participator, Nitra shares a comparative impression of Bangladeshi and UK theatre. According to her, in the UK, amateur groups copy plays from West End or Royal Shakespeare Company, at least in Oxford. But shows by professional troupes are something worth spending the time and money for. In Bangladesh, on the contrary, things are done in a more ad hoc basis.
“It is really difficult to generalise since they have a vast canvas of theatre. There are many different types of shows here. There are musicals, operas, dramas, pantomimes or just Shakespeare. Each has its own traditional audiences and styles. Tickets can get sold about a year in advance. In Bangladesh, we play things while events are unfolding. It is to some extent stressful for some people, but that is how we are,” she said.
Although she lives abroad, she is up-to-date about the oft-talked about crises such as lack of performance space. She said, “In 1996 we had only Guide House and Mahila Samity. In 2011, we have three halls in Shilpakala Academy, Chhayanaut auditorium, Zahir Raihan Auditorium, Natmandal at Dhaka University and several others. Still we lack spaces to perform. Have we tried to perform any of our numerous new Tagore plays in Ashulia/Savar EPZ? Sayedabad? No! We have our 'street' plays for them, the 'TfDs'
(Theatre for Development) goes there! Our superiority complex laden creative senses prevent us from performing there, because audience there would not understand the play! It is indeed, such a 'high' form of art that most of what we create is undecipherable by most of our fellow people!”
She concluded the conversation by sharing her views on upcoming activists as well as the necessity of creative aspect and organisational skills. She finds no clash between the two aspects. She said, “I have seen the best loved leaders of three groups to be the most creative and the most organisational ones at the same time.”
On youngsters: “I have heard of this since 1996. I have seen the proliferation of the television industry in Bangladesh yet I did not see paucity in emergence of new theatre troupes. Therefore, I do not buy this argument. If theatre is a creative medium it will attract some people until the species stops living.”

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